Hitting the Griddy
Tap your heels in front of you, one after the other. The foot movement of the Griddy is almost like a jig. To start, bend your knees slightly. Step forward with your right heel, then step back as you step out with your left heel. Try to keep your toes close to the ground and lead with your heels. Try not to squat down to the ground—instead, bend your knees a little bit and fold your torso over so it looks like you’re about to do a squat. Practice this heel tap until you can do it comfortably and at a moderate pace. You can walk around as you tap your heels, or do it in one place.
Swing your arms back and forth with the rhythm of your feet. As you move forward, slowly swing your arms in front and behind you. This rhythm can vary depending on how fast you dance, but try to swing your arms about every one or two taps with each heel. Do what feels natural—you can swing your arms side-to-side, back and forth, or pump them up and down. Try not to keep your arms by your side, or it may make the dance look stiff.
Add other arm movements like “B’s” for flavor. The most popular way to spice up the dance is to make “OK” signs (or “throw your B’s”). To do this, touch your index fingers and thumbs together on each hand. Place the holes you make over your eyes as you heel-tap. Do the “ice in my veins” pose by sticking one arm by your side, exposing the inside of your elbow, while making an “OK” sign with the other hand on top of it. You can also act as if you’re dribbling a basketball between your legs or wiping your shoes. The “B’s” stand for “Big Billionaire.” Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson may have been the first to “throw [his] B’s.”
What does “hitting the Griddy” mean?
It means doing the Griddy dance after doing something amazing. “Hit the Griddy” is a popular slang phrase that means to “do the Griddy.” Someone might say this to you after you accomplish something great, like making a goal on the field or winning a round in a video game. Bro, hit the Griddy! Wow, Marcus is hitting the Griddy!
Where did the Griddy come from?
High school football player Allen “Griddy” Davis invented the Griddy. The Griddy was created in 2017 by Louisiana high school football player Allen Davis, who used to perform the dance in the locker room. One day, someone recorded him and put it on Snapchat, which inspired hundreds of his friend’s followers to replicate the dance. Davis was a huge fan of the Nae Nae dance and decided to come up with his own dance craze. He posted a video of the Griddy dance on his YouTube channel @lahgriddy-thegriddy7029 on June 8th, 2018, which shows multiple Snapchat Story videos of him performing the dance. Davis was also interviewed by Houston’s local news, where he said the name of the Griddy dance was inspired by his nickname.
How did the Griddy become so popular?
Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson brought the Griddy to the NFL. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was introduced to the Griddy by his friend, Allen Davis, who trained with him in New Orleans. When Chase went to LSU, he became friends with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and showed him the viral Snapchat videos of the Griddy. During the second game of Jefferson’s junior season, he reached the end zone and hit the Griddy, causing the dance move to become a widespread phenomenon. Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Heldaire was the first player in the NFL to do the Griddy. The Griddy then spread across sports to athletes like Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman, Memphis Grizzlies sharpshooter Ja Morant, and New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. The dance even made it internationally to the Olympic games in Tokyo when German soccer player Ragnar Ache hit it in the game.
The song “Right Foot Creep” made the Griddy go viral on TikTok. In September 2020, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again made a song called “Right Foot Creep.” TikTok users discovered that the song lined up perfectly with the Griddy, and by October it became a widespread trend to dance to the song. One of the first TikTokers to do this was @brucethompson, who posted a video of him doing the Griddy in a parking lot on September 19, 2020. On February 19, 2022, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty (@grittynhl on TikTok) posted a video of himself hitting the Griddy. In January 2022, the song “Playboy” by Jx.Zero slowly began to replace “Right Foot Creep” on TikTok. In February 2022, the TikTok account @retirementhouse posted a video with the “Playboy” song that said “‘Grandparents can’t Griddy,’” followed by an older couple doing the dance. In 2023, @jackson._.burrus posted a video where someone hits the Griddy on a frozen lake while the person filming says, “Buddy is witerally Gwiddying on the fwozen lake.” This started a new trend of similar videos.
The video game Fortnite introduced the Griddy emote in 2021. On April 29, 2021, Fortnite released a Griddy emote based on Jefferson’s version of the dance for characters to do in-game. This not only made Jefferson the first player to be featured in the NFL’s partnership with Epic Games, but it also inspired a new wave of memes and TikTok trends. TikToker @whosdiced posted a video of a Fortnite character doing the Griddy while they said, “Oh my God he’s literally hitting the Griddy right now.” This may have sparked the 2023 TikTok “baby-talk” trend. In 2022, Cinnamon Toast Crunch collaborated with Jefferson and released Griddy Toast Crunch, a $50 limited edition box design that came with an Under Armor sweatshirt and sold out in just 90 minutes.
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